Black History Month
After leaving Howard University because of differences with its president, Dr. Woodson devoted the rest of his life to historical research. He also worked to preserve the history of African Americans and accumulated a collection of thousands of artifacts and publications. He noted their contributions "were overlooked, ignored, and even suppressed by the writers of history textbooks and the teachers who use them." [5]. Race prejudice, he concluded, "is merely the logical result of tradition, the inevitable outcome of thorough instruction to the effect that the Negro has never contributed anything to the progress of mankind." [6] In 1926, Woodson single-handedly pioneered the celebration of "Negro History Week", for the second week in February, to coincide with marking Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass's birthdays.[7]. The week was later extended to the entire month and renamed Black History Month.